Vehicle-jack.



c. G. ma. VEHICLE JACK.

APPLICATION FILED MAIL I| I9I5.

Llw., Patented OCI. 26, 1915.

f///`///////// mi A Il@ 'tlhllflll @TATF PATENT FFIBE.

CHARLES Gr. ETTE, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO ST. LOUIS MALLEABLE CASTING COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF MISSOURI.

VEHICLE-JACK.

Application filed March 1, 1915.

` To all 107mm t may concern.'

Lio

Be it known that I, CHARLES Gr. E'r'rn, a citizen of the United States, residingatist. Louis, Missouri, have invented 'a certain new and useful Improvement in Vehicle-Jacks, of which the following is a full, clear, and eXact description, such as will enable others skilled in the artv to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to vehicle jacks, and has for its main object to provide a quickacting jack that can be adjusted quicklyto adapt it to the particular vehicle with which it is used, and which is so constructed that there is no liability of its getting out of adjustment accidentally when is not in use.

Another object is to provide a vehicle jack of novel construction, in which the movable member of the jack which sustains the wedge of thelvehicleor other loadcarried by the jack is arranged in direct longitudinal alinement withl the standard or vertically disposed pedestal of the jack on which said movable member slides.

Another object is to provide a' vehicle jack of thecharacter just described, in which the operating mechanism for raising and lowering said movable member comprises a toggle joint whose coperating members are pivotally connected together at a point intermediate the points where the outer ends of said toggle members engage the standard and the vertically adjustable load-supporting member of the jack, said operating mechanism being so designed that'one of said toggle members lies in a vertical position parallel to the standard of the jack when the jack is inV use, and thus transmits the load or downward force in a straight line directly to the standard of the jack. And still another object of my invention is to provide an efficient, strong and easily' adjustable vehicle jack that can be manufactured at a low cost from cast metal. Other objects and desirable features ofmy invention will be hereinafter pointed out. v I l Figure 1 of the drawings is aside elev ational view of a vehicle jack constructed in accordance with my invention, showing the jack arranged in operative position for sustaining a load. Fig. 2 is a similar view, illustrating the parts of the jack in positions that they occupy when the jack is not in use, or, in other words, when the verticallyadj ustable load-supporting member of the jack Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 26, 19915.

Serial No. 11,322.

is in its depressed position. elevational view of thevjack; horizontal sectional view taken on the line l-l of Fig. l; and Fig.` 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a rear j A Fig. 4 is a Referring to the drawings, which illus of a wheel hub, and being connected to the d member B in such a manner that it can turn or rotate in a horizontal plane, and thus enable the jack to be set either .parallel with the wheel or at right angles to same. The

standard A preferably consists of a malleable casting provided with a web and vertically disposed flanges 3 that project laterally from opposite sides ofthe web at the sci vertical center airis of the standard A, the

flanges 3 extending longitudinally of the standard A and being arranged intermediate the front and rear edges of the web of said standard. The load-supporting member B also preferably consists 0f a malleable casting of approximately the cross-sectional shape shown in Fig. al, said member B having a substantially channel or U-shaped portion that embraces the part of the web of the standard A which lies in front of the flanges, and also two oppositely disposed channel or lU-shaped portions that embrace or surround the flanges 3. The head 2 is connected to the member B at a point directly above the center line of the standard B, or, in other words, at a point in longitudinal alineinent with the vertical axis of the standard A, so that the load which the head 2 sustains when the jack is in use will Sii be carried 'directly over the standard A,

thereby giving strength where it is most needed, enabling the member B to be raised with less effort and also eliminating the possibility of the jack tilting.4 The-member B is provided at its upper end with a bearingfj member B together d uring the operation of casting the member B. To this end` I provide the head 2 with a depending cylindrical shank 5 that passes freely through an opening in the bearing portion 4L at theupper endof the member B and which is. provided at its lower end with a head or enlarged portion 5a whose diameter is greater than theA opening in the bearing portion 4 on the member B., thereby preventing the head 2 from being disconnected from the member En manufacturing the jlackthe head 2 j with the integral sha-nk 5 thereon is placed in the mold' in which the member B is formed, so as to cause the center bea-ring 4 Y on said member B to be cast around said f member of' said toggle joint is formedby an angularly disposedV portion 6 at the inner end of' an operating lever C, which is pivotally connected at 7 to. a rearwardly projecting ear 8 at the upper end of the niember B, the portion 6 of the operating lever C beingl bifurcated so. that itwil-l stradfdle or embrace the ear 8 on the member B. The other member of said' toggle joint consists of a link 9 whose upper end is pivot-ally connected at 10- to the toggle member 6 and Whose lower end is pivotally connected to the standard A so as to cause the load-supporting member B of the jack to be raised and lowered when the lever C is opera-ted. The toggle member 6 on the innerend of the lever C is so disposed with relation to said lever that when the j'ack is in use, as shown in Fig. 1', the pivot 10 that oins the two members of the toggletogether will lie a trifie to one side of dead center, or slightly out of alinement with the points where the toggle membersl are connected to the standardy A and to the load-supporting member 'B, thereby insuring the operating lever C remainingi'n its operative `depressed position, 'asshown in Fig. 1. The liever C and the llink 9 both preferably consist of malleable iron castings, and the link 9. is preferablf'y channel or U-shaped in crossr section throughout the major portion of its length, so that it will' embrace the rear edge portion of the standard A when the jack is in use, and thus enable the toggle members to be connected to the standard A and to the movable member Bv of the jack in such a mannerthat they will lie very closerto the vertical axis of said standard.

The lower end of the toggle link 9 is adjustably connected to the standard A, so that the pointof connection between said link and standard can be changed when it is desired to change the initial adjustment of the jack, or, in other words, adapt the jack to a vehicle provided with wheels of a particular size, and in order to eliminate the possibility of the jack getting out oi adjustment accidentally when it is not in use, 1 have connected the link 9 to thev standard A in such a manner that said link can bel adjusted quickly and easily without the aid of a wrench7 screw-driver, or other tool.. As shownV in the drawings, the. rear edge portion of the standard.; A is provided: with a plurality ofy horizontally disposed slots 11 arranged in different horizontal planes,` any one of said slots being adapted to., receive a horizontally disposed cross pinA 12 the lower end of the toggle. link 9i. Each of the slots or notches 11 has a contracted mout-h, and the pin 12 i-n the4 link 9 is.v provided with two portionsk 12 and 12" of different diameters. rlilhe portion 1523' of said; piny is ot greaterV diameter than the portion 12" and it is large enough so that it cannot be moved transversely out of the. contracted mouth of the notch 11 in` whichi the pin 12 is positioned'. The smaller portion 12.1? of the pin 12 is of such dimensions that it will pass through the contracted mouth of the notch 11 that receives the pin 1 2 when said portion 12b is positioned in said notch. Normally, the enlarged portion 12 of the pin 12 is positioned in one of the` notches 141 in the standard A, said pin 12 being held in the position shown in full lines in Fig. et by means of a coiled expansion spring 13. that is mounted on the pin 12 between one side of the link 9 and an abutment 14e at the outer end of the pin 12, which can be formed conveniently by a washer 14: secured to the pin 12 in any suitable manner, as,L for example, by upsetting the outer end of said pin. If it is desired to change the initial adjustment of the jack the pinl 12 is moved horizontally against the stress of the spring 13 into the position shown in broken lines in Fig. 4;, thus positioning the reduced portion 12b of the pin in the notch 11 in ythe standard and enabling the pin to` be moved rearwardly out through the contracted mouth of said notch.

A vehicle jack of the construction above described can be manufactured at a, low cost, owing to the fact that the parts of same consist of malleable castingsv which are so designed that they can be assembled and connected together quickly and easily; there is no liabilityof the jack getting out of initial adjustment when the jack is not in use, owing to the fact that the pin 12I is normally held in such a posi-tion that it cannot slipgout of the-slot or notch 11 in the standard A in which it is located. The initial adjustment of the jack can be changed easily, however, and without the use of a wrench or similar tool, by simply punching the pin l2 laterally slightly, as previously described. In view of the fact that the head 2 on which the axle or the hub of the vehcle rests is located directly above the standard A and in longitudinal alinement with the vertical axis of said standard, the weight is carried directly over the standard, thus giving strength where it is most needed, enabling the member B to be raised easily and also eliminating the possibility of the jack tilting. And still another desirable feature of such a jack is that the toggle joint that forms part of the operating mechanism is not in tension when the jack is in use, owing to the fact that the link 9 is arranged in a vertical position and in parallel relation to the standard A of the jack, the toggle links being connected to the standard A and to the load-supporting member B in such a manner that the downward pressure which the load exerts on the jack is transmitted directly to the standard A in a direction parallel to the vertical axis of said standard.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A vehicle jack, comprising a standard having a vertically-disposed web provided intermediate its front and rear edges with laterally projecting flanges, a vertically ad justable load-supporting member slidably mounted on said standard and provided with portions that embrace the flanges thereon, an operating lever, an angularly-disposed portion on the inner end of said lever which is pivotally connected to a rearwardly projecting ear on said load-supporting member, and a link of substantially channel shape in cross section whose upper end is pivotally connected to the angularlyedisposed portion of said lever and whose lower end is pivotally connected to said standard, said link being adapted to straddle one of the flanges on said standard. Y

2. A vehicle jack, comprising a standard, a vertically adjustable loadsupporting member slidably mounted on said standard, and an operating mechanism for said member comprising a toggle joint, one of whose members is pivotally connected to said standard by means of a movable pin having two portions of different diameters, the larger one of which is normally positioned in a horizontally-disposed slot in the edge of said standard, said slot having a narrow mouth through which the smaller portion of said pin can pass laterally after the pin has been moved into a certain position.

3. A vehicle jack, comprising a standard, a vertically adjustable load-supporting member slidably mounted on said standard, an operating mechanism for said member comprising a toggle joint, one of whose members is pivotally connected to said loadsupporting member, a spring-pressed pin passing transversely through the other toggle member and through an opening formed in the edge of said standard, said pin having a reduced portion and said notch having a narrow mouth, and an operating lever :formed integral with one of said toggle members.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aiiix my signature'in the presence of two witnesses, this twenty sixth day of February 1915.

CHARLES G. ETTE.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM L. SCHROEDER, WALTER C. RAITHEL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

o Washington, D. C. 

